Big Gigantic brings its music mix to Electric Factory Feb. 22

Big Gigantic, a jazz/dubstep/hip-hop/EDM duo from Colorado, made its area debut almost two years ago to the day at the Blockley Pour House.

Over the past few years, the two musicians -- saxophonist/producer Dominic Lalli and drummer Jeremy Salken -- have continued to expand their music and their audience. They return to Philadelphia to perform in a much larger venue when they headline a show on Feb. 22 at the Electric Factory.

“Big Gigantic has been together for about five years,” said Salken, during a phone interview last week from a tour stop in Portland, Maine. “Dominic and I met six years ago through the Colorado music scene.”

Lalli said, “I was playing with a Boulder band called Motet and we were getting into the electronic music scene. I decided to do a solo project and got Jeremy involved. We did our first gig together a few years ago and it’s been like a roller coaster ever since.

“I majored in music performance at the Manhattan School of Music and there was a big emphasis on jazz. So, I’ve always been a jazz fan. The sax is my music voice. I started mixing jazz and electronic music and, fortunately, it worked.

“STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9) took us under their wing and had us opening for them or doing after-show parties. That got us going. Luckily, we were in the right place at the right time. A pretty large amount of our live show is improvisation.”

Big Gigantic has a sound that has made its music attractive to fans from a number of genres.

“The audience is balanced between EDM (electronic dance music) fans and jam band fans,” said Salken. “We started as a jam band but the EDM scene has taken us in. Our sound has evolved. Dominic makes all the music and he’s learned how to make bigger bass tunes.

“The compositions vary from song to song. He’ll get a melody in his head -- or a bass line. He makes the music, produces it and mixes it. I come in live and expand on top of it. We have three full-length albums, one EP and we’re working on a new album right now.”

Big Gigantic’s sound swirls with saxophone and keyboard-driven free form jazz but also features electronic effects and bass drops that dubstep fans crave.

“For our live show, we have a set list written out,” said Salken. “Dominic has all the songs in his Mac book and each song is broken into individual parts -- the intro-verse-chorus vibe. But, we have the ability to do different stuff and switch around. He can drop things in when he wants.”